The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1371004
B-6 Wednesday, May 12, 2021 The Press-Dispatch Pentecostal Nazarene Nazarene Presbyterian Wesleyan MINUTES Continued from page 4 Lord was talking about you and me, and all of the other mem- bers of the Body of Christ who had not yet believed on Him at that time. The problem with this view is that you and I didn't believe on Christ through the words of the twelve apostles. We believed on Him through the words of the Apostle Paul! Paul is the only biblical writ- er who presents salvation by grace through faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25). If someone intro- duced you to Christ using the words of the twelve apostles, they had to read Paul's gospel into their words, for he is the on- ly biblical writer to preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as the gospel that must be believed in order to be saved (I Cor. 15:1-4). So who were those who were saved through the word of the apostles? Well, the twelve preached their word at Pente- cost, which tells us that those who believed through their word were all Jews, for they were the only people that Peter addressed on that day (Acts 2:14,22,36). So in praying for "them also which shall believe through their word," the Lord was praying for future Jewish believers. Of course, this means that He had only Jewish believ- ers in mind when He went on to pray for these future saints. "That they all may be one… that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" ( John 17:21). Here again, the commentar- ies all contend that the Lord was talking about us. A fter all, didn't Paul say of Christ, "He is our peace, who hath made both one" (Eph. 2:14), speaking of how Jews and Gentiles were all "baptized into one body" (I Cor. 12:13). The commentaries insist that this is what the Lord had in mind when He prayed "that they all may be one." But we've already seen that this couldn't be what the Lord had in mind, since those who believed on Him through the word of the apostles were all Jews. So why was He praying that the Jews might be made one? Well, if you know your Bi- ble, you know that there came a time in Israel's history when the ten northern tribes broke away from the two southern tribes and formed their own kingdom (I Kings 12). While God allowed this, He had no in- tention of letting His people be divided forever! To illustrate this, God instructed Ezekiel to take a stick and write "Israel" on it to represent the ten north- ern tribes, and then to take an- other stick and write "Judah" on it to represent the two southern tribes, then to join them togeth- er and "make them one stick" (Ezek. 37:15 -19). He was told to do all this to illustrate God's plan to take Israel and Judah and "make them one nation" (v. 22). This, then, is the one- ness for which the Lord prayed in our text. Was His prayer answered? You know it was! At Pentecost, "there were dwelling at Jerusa- lem Jews…out of every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5). "And all that believed…were togeth- er…continuing daily with one accord…with…singleness of heart" (Acts 2:41-46). Of course, the Lord had a purpose in mind for praying for the reunion of Israel's two houses. It was, as He said, "that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me"; and when the reuniting of Israel's two hous- es continues in the millenni- al kingdom, their oneness will cause the world to believe on Christ. Do you think this will work today? That is, when the world sees the oneness that we have in Christ, do you think may- be they might want in on it? I know for sure that it works the other way! When we bite and devour one another, the world about us finds this most unat- tractive. Brethren, do you know who does the most to keep peo- ple from believing on Christ? It is not murderers, rapists, and thieves; nothing that men like that do keeps men from believ- ing. No, it is Christians who can't get along with one an- other, and who present a poor testimony to the world in oth- er ways, that keep men from believing on Christ. Why not determine right now that as a Christian you are going to "walk worthy of this calling… that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you" (II Thes. 1:11,12). Methodist PAWS WEEK PAWS WEEK Pet of the LASHES No home is complete without the pitter patter of kitty feet. This week, PAWS is fea- turing an approximately eight-week-old, adorable young kitten named Lash- es, who is as curious as the day is long and can al- ways be found getting in- to some type of mischief in the cat room at PAWS. She is quickly mastering her climbing skills and has careened to the top of every cat tree in the room. She is a short-haired tab- by with a lovely black and white pattern of fur and has the longest lashes one has ever seen on a tiny kit- ten. Lashes can be adopted by calling 812-354-9894. I washed my truck one morn- ing and I think we had about a sack full of dirt from the outside and the inside as well. It does feel better driving it because I'm not quite as ashamed of it as I was. The grandson felt like going to school after being off for a couple of days and our son had taken off to help clean their ga- rage, so we could have a yard sale during the community wide yard sale. We were able to get our tables set up and clothes hung up. Our make shift clothes hanger was two ladders with two poles through them. It actually worked well, so there is an idea for you all. It rained us out for our first sale date but Saturday was part- ly cloudy or was it partly sun- ny, I forget although there was a breeze which made it cool to be out. Our yard sale appeared to be well visited and I think my wife did okay by getting lots of stuff out of her way and maybe got some of her money back. Lots of it was baby cloth- ing. Kids grow so fast it is defi- nitely worth going to yard sales versus buying all new clothing. It took about two hours to take down the sale which was about half the time to set it up. Bro. Rich felt rough after his second vaccination and I got to take care of the service last Sun- day. It felt good being able to preach behind that podium. We did have a sermon for Mother's Day and I only hope and pray they all enjoyed it. I sang and played a song by Randy Travis called Angels, which I dedicat- ed to all our mothers. As always I ask you to be ready to help one another and to be the blessing God needs you to be. RAMBLINGS Continued from page 4 P F M 1003 East Illinois Street • Petersburg, IN 47567 • 812.354.3458 Karan Thacker, AFSP Owner 704 E. Haub Street Haubstadt, IN 47639 THACKER TAX SERVICE 906 Blackfoot Drive Fort Branch, IN 47648 812-615-0071 (offi ce) 812-789-3852 (cell) kthacker01@gmail.com GOOD SHEPHERD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 210 W. Harrison Street, Oakland City Church 812-749-3525 Sunday school 9:30 a.m.; worship service 10 :30 a.m.; community luncheons the third Tuesday of each month 10 a.m.-noon CDT. The community of Good Shepherd United Method- ist Church exists to glorify God through Jesus Christ our Lord. As a body of believers, we pledge ourselves to allow the Holy Spirit to develop with- in us maturity of spirit, unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, so that we may be pre- pared to share His love, mercy and grace through our words and actions to a needy world. We extend an invitation to the public to come and worship with us. The Good Shepherd takes care of His sheep. Neal Scifres, Pastor OTWELL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH P.O. Box 146, 10041E. Washington Ave. Otwell 812-766-3344 Facebook: Otwell United Methodist Church and Jeff Pin- ney. Otwell United Methodist in- vites you to join us this Sun- day at 10 :30 a.m. as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ; Sunday school, 9:30 a.m. "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become ma- ture, attaining to the whole mea- sure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13, NIV ). Jeff Pinney, Pastor PETERSBURG FREE METHODIST CHURCH 202 Walnut Street As the number of COVID cas- es decreases, people are start- ing to return to many of the ac- tivities they have been missing. We are returning to many of our regular activities. We cur- rently meet in person for wor- ship service at 10 :30 a.m. on Sunday. The messages are al- so live on Facebook, or you can watch the message later. With the weather getting warmer, we will start transmitting via an FM station, if you prefer to stay in your car and listen in the church parking lot. We will let people know when we start broadcasting and what channel to tune into. Sunday school for all ages re- opens at 9:30 a.m. Location of the classes has changed. We will help you get to the proper classroom. We have also started a new Sunday School class called "The Journey." Jodi Correll is teach- ing. This is not an age-based class. It is a discipleship class designed to help people know Scripture better, and become more like Jesus. It is a great class for young adults, new be- lievers and people who just want to be refreshed and grow, even if they have been following Je- sus for years. Youth Group meets at 5 p.m. on Sunday. It is our goal for our youth group to be service ori- ented. The teens will do a work project at someone's house or other ministry, and have a brief devotional. It is important that we have your contact information and a way to contact each teen, because we may meet at the church, or at the place we will be serving. Families are welcome take part in the service project, but the parents are responsible for their children. The nursery will remain closed for now. We don't believe it is a good idea to allow children of different families to play together at this time. If your child needs to be tak- en out of the service, the nurs- ery can always be used as a place to change your child, or as a cry room. It is important that everyone wears their masks until they reach their seat. We also ask that people stay with the group they came with and not shake hands. We use every other pew, and ask that you stay socially dis- tanced from those in your pew who you did not come with. We make every effort to ster- ilize our facility between ser- vices. RUMBLETOWN FREE METHODIST CHURCH 1485 N. St. Rd. 57 Petersburg Adult Sunday school at 9:30 a.m.; morning worship at 10 :30 a.m. The church is located south of Petersburg on State Road 57. Hope Barnett, Reporter There is a basket as you en- ter the sanctuary for tithes and offerings. You may also give online through petersburgfmc. org. There is a link to our website on our Facebook page also, and we often put announcements and information on both pages. Peace and joy in the Lord. Mark Schlechty, Pastor PETERSBURG CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE 118 West Pike Ave. Church 812-354-8851 Service times: Sunday at 10 :30 a.m. Praise and Worship service; 5 p.m. Bible study; Teen activities; Wednesday at 6 p.m. Bible study. Sunday morning service is available via transmitter. Pull in to the church parking lot and tune your radio to 104.3 FM and hear the service from the comfort of your car. Pastor Steve will continue his sermon series "What's Next? Proclaiming That Sal- vation Comes Through Faith" with this week's message from Acts 15. Sunday morning services are available on our Facebook page—Petersburg Church of the Nazarene or look for us on YouTube. Visit our website www.petersburgnaz.com for additional information. If the church can be of as- sistance to you, contact us at pastor@petersburgnaz.com. We hope you will join us Sun- day as we celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Steve Hamilton, Pastor WINSLOW NAZARENE CHURCH 106 W. Washington St. Winslow 989-941-7190 Love, Care, Serve, Share Sunday morning service at 10 :30 a.m. Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are welcome to connect with our church either in per- son or online. Facebook: Winslow Church of the Nazarene. YouTube: Winslow Nazarene. Website: bit.ly/winslownaz. Irene's Food Pantry: Every third Saturday from 10 -11:30 a.m. Hope to see you soon. Joe Decker, Pastor HOUSE OF MERCY CHURCH Corner of East and Porter Winslow Pastor 812-789-5229 A Church with open arms and a loving heart. Sunday morning service 10 :15 a.m. and Sunday school at 11 a.m. We are on face book live Sunday mornings. I pray that if you have your mother with you that you cel- ebrated her. Many times of life we get to busy and forget the important things of life. We even forget about our re- lationship with Jesus after we walk out from our weekly worship service. We forget the message that the Holy Spirit has given the man or woman of God and we do not live out the Word in our life. Remember those that are hospitalized, your neighbors that are contending with sick- ness or issues of life. Also pray for the President, Congress, our police, and all in author- ity over you. Be blessed this week. George Bruce, Jr., Pastor OAKLAND CITY FIRST PENTECOST Hwy. 64 East Sunday morning service 9:30 a.m. with children's Sun- day school during the minis- try of the Word; Sunday and Wednesday evening services at 6 p.m.; Song practice is can- celled for the month of May. We will resume in June. All services are CDT (Gibson Co. times). We are living in such a trou- bled time. Our phones ring with prayer requests con- stantly. We are running every- where and seem to be going nowhere. Stop, breathe and remember that Jesus is Lord. Your peace and your joy is in Him. It's the enemy's business to keep us so involved in this life, we don't prepare for the next one. Even a good deed is not good if it is stealing your joy and your strength. It's okay to say, "I'm sorry, but I can't take on anymore." Go back to spending time with your Sav- ior, that your strength might be renewed. Ron Vickers, Pastor Elaine Young, Reporter, 812-749 -1122 (leave a mes- sage). MAIN STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 10th and Main Streets, Petersburg 812-354-6844 Sunday worship 10 :30 a.m. Come visit us, our doors are always open to you. Mistaken identity Two cars waited at a stop- light. When the light turned green, the first driver didn't notice. The woman behind him pounded her steer- ing wheel and yelled. When the light turned yellow, she honked, made an obscene ges- ture and cursed. Hearing the commotion, the man looked up and accelerated through the intersection just as the light turned red. The woman ranted at missing her chance to get through. Suddenly, she heard a tap on her window and looked up to see a policeman. He told her to get out and place her hands on her car. The bewil- dered woman was hustled in- to the patrol car, booked at the station and placed in a cell. Eventually, the original officer returned and apolo- gized for the mistake. "I no- ticed your behavior," he said. "Then I saw the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper stick- er and the Christian fish em- blem. Naturally, I assumed the car was stolen." Office hours: 9 a.m.-noon, Monday-Friday. Amy Melhiser, Secretary OTWELL WESLEYAN CHURCH 2277 N. Mechanics Street Otwell Pastor 812-354-3028 Sunday school at 9:30 a.m.; morning worship at 10 :30 a.m.; 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening wor- ship service. Optimist vs. Pessimist A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the T V was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom and gloom pessimist. Just to see what would hap- pen, their father loaded the pes- simist's room with every imag- inable toy and game. The op- timist's room he loaded with horse hay. That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly. "Why are you crying? " the fa- ther asked. "Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get bro- ken," answered the pessimist twin. Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the piles of hay. "What are you so happy about? " he asked. To which his optimist twin re- plied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere."—Author Unknown. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the pow- er of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13). Roy Stilwell, Pastor Pam Lemond, Reporter